Cisco Systems (CSCO) seems out of favor with the market these days. On Friday, the shares closed at $17.04. The 52-week low for the stock is $16.97, while the 52-week high is $27.74. With the company near its low point, should traders be looking at the stock?

According to TheFly, Pacific Crest believes the valuation on the shares is attractive. And at first glance, one might be inclined to agree with such a sentiment. In fact, considering the relatively tight 52-week range, I could easily imagine the stock rising after making what could theoretically turn out to be a bottom.

"Even when the market is up a lot, you can always find some good stocks that have been left behind but could be on the verge of a rebound," says George Putnam.

The editor of The Turnaround Letter explains, "That's where we suggest you focus your efforts right now. These eight stocks all have strong business franchises and have all significantly lagged the market over the last two years.

"In fact, several of them are still trading near or even below where they were in early 2009. Here, we look at Bank of America (BAC), Best Buy (BBY), Campbell Soup (CPB), Cisco Systems (CSCO), Microsoft (MSFT) and Sprint Nextel (S).

Bellwether technology company Cisco Systems (CSCO) reported second-quarter profit fell, although it still topped analysts forecasts. Net income sank 18% to $1.5 billion or 27 cents a share, from $1.9 billion or 32 cents a year ago, as reported in the New York Times.

Revenue climbed 6% to $10.4 billion from $9.8 billion in the quarter a year ago.

On an adjusted basis, income was 37 cents a share, beating Thomson Reuters forecast of 35 cents a share on revenue of $10.24 billion.

This post is one in a series in which more than 60 newsletter advisors share their Top Stock Picks for 2011. This special report is courtesy of TheStockAdvisors.com.

"One a theme that hasn't worked in, well, forever -- large cap technology stocks; many large cap tech are trading at historically low valuations," note Lou Basenese.

The editor of the White Cap Research Group explains, "As a contrarian, I'm picking the most contrarian large cap technology stock out there: Cisco Systems (CSCO), which could be a top-performer in 2011.

Cisco Systems, Inc. (CSCO) December 20 and January 20 calls were active with total call option volume of 497K contracts compared to 143K puts. December and January call option implied volatility is at 22, February is at 26, compared to its 26-week average of 30 according to Track Data. Large volume suggests traders positioning for movement.

Charles River Laboratories (CRL) closed up 3%, on Relational Investors LLC and the California State Teachers' Retirement System having a combined 6.1% stake in the company, and wanting the company to put itself up for sale, reports the Wall Street Journal. January option implied volatility of 29 is below its 26-week average of 34 according to Track Data, suggesting decreasing price movement.

Options Update is by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.

Analyst Upgrades

• Cisco (CSCO) to outperform from perform at Oppenheimer.
• Cognizant (CTSH) to buy from neutral at Goldman.
• Polypore (PPO) to outperform from neutral at RW Baird.
• Elan (ELN) to buy from neutral at UBS.
• Millicom (MICC) and NuStar GP Holdings (NSH) to overweight from equal weight at Morgan Stanley.
• Teekay LNG (TGP) to equal weight from underweight at Morgan Stanley.
• American Railcar (ARII) to outperform from market perform at Morgan Keegan.
• Texas Instruments (TXN) to buy from neutral at Sterne Agee.

The stock markets' current doldrums can be linked to many causes, and each day pundits will throw out their notions for the day. On one such occasion I could not resist playing the spoiler (probably more than once) posting Chasing Value: Cisco Shmisco -- It's Nothing. But today I will rally behind Cisco Systems (CSCO) and the potential to make an easy 25% return -- or own it cheaper than cheap!

Cisco is currently trading near its 52-week low, opening Tuesday at $19.24. The range is $19.18 to $27.74, so it has fallen 30.6% from its high on a very modest 2010 and lackluster projections going forward. Seems to me everyone is zigging so it's time to zag -- or is it the other way around? Nevertheless, its time for action and opportunity.

The market is down and the headlines are blaming Cisco Systems (CSCO), in part because they reported tepid earnings and somber growth projections. This once again underscores the fact that stock prices are always determined at the margins. Most folks could care less, and this is reflected by the big silent yawn of the majority of investors.

Cisco is not the bell-weather it has been in the past. Some of its business is down because there are more alternatives from competitors, "the cloud" keeps growing, and also many products have become commodities.

There are many other companies I would consider better measures of how the economy is doing.

"I think the recent selling spree will act much like a thunderstorm clearing the air. From now on, you should focus on picking up the good values dropped by the panicky sellers," says leading growth stock specialist Richard Band, who recommends a package of three technology issues: Cisco Systems (CSCO), Google (GOOG) and Research in Motion (RIMM).

The editor of Profitable Investing, explains, "It will probably take several weeks of whippy, back-and-forth trading before the market fully regains its equilibrium. However, most of the damage has been done.

So far it has been a pretty solid earnings season, and that trend continued this afternoon with tech giant Cisco Systems, Inc. (CSCO) posting better than expected results for its fiscal third quarter.

The company earned $0.42 during its third quarter, easily outpacing the $0.39 that Wall Street had been expecting to see.

The negativity in the market place has been palpable for several years and is only thawing out now, in some people's view, while others rant about a "double-dip" or "W-shaped" recovery. In contrast to those who shun the market, I have been buying stocks at bargain basement prices over the past year with a return on investment that is "staggering," to quote a Wells Fargo Financial Consultant familiar with my account.

I am well aware that the record deficit spending in the United States is even more staggering. Everyone knows about the high unemployment rate, foreclosure rate, bank failure rate, and tepid consumer confidence. So why am I so optimistic about the economic recovery? Here's why, as simply as I can state the case:

Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO), whose CEO is optimistic about economic recovery, is scheduled to discuss its second-quarter fiscal 2010 financial results in a conference call Wednesday, Feb. 3, at 4:30 PM (ET). A live webcast of the call will be available at the company's website.

During the three months that ended in January, Cisco completed an acquisition, demonstrated new technologies at CES and announced some organizational changes. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters are looking for earnings for that period of 35 cents per share. That compares with 36 cents per share in the previous quarter and 32 cents per share a year ago. Revenue for the second quarter is expected to be 3.5% higher than a year ago to $9.4 billion.

Software giant Oracle (ORCL) finally completed its $7.4 billion acquisition of Sun Microsystems on January 26, for $9.50 per share in cash and debt deal, setting up an opportunity for the company to dominate its competition in the database software and enterprise computing systems markets.

Sun has been delisted from the Nasdaq and all Sun stock holders were to have cash payouts mailed to them within a week.

Cisco Systems (CSCO - option chain) shares are rising today after company CEO John Chambers said in an interview that tech companies often are among the first to see gains in a recovering economy as businesses upgrade their technology. This could be a good sign for the company, which is scheduled to report Q2 earnings on Wednesday evening. Analysts are looking for the company to post a profit of 35 cents per share on revenue of $9.4 billion, compared to a profit of 32 cents per share on revenue of $9.09 billion in the year-ago period. A good quarter announced last night by competitor Juniper Networks (JNPR) also bodes well for Cisco next week. If you think that the stock won't fall by too much in the coming months, then now could be a good time to look at a bullish hedged trade on CSCO.

Amazon, Inc. (AMZN) is in the clouds. So are Google, Inc. (GOOG), EMC (EMC) and Cisco (CSCO). Now, Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) is joining them, having announced on Tuesday its new Windows Azure cloud computing system. The new product will be released on January 1, 2010 -- a new solution for a new year.

Azure will deliver an online platform for the software development set to build their own mousetraps and provide plenty of storage space for users. Testing began a year ago, and full live version will be celebrated next year. For the first month, Azure will be free. The charges start in February.